Sudanese Military Leaders Say Several Coup Attempts Have Been Thwarted

KHARTOUM – Sudanese military leaders said on Thursday that they had foiled several coup attempts and that some officers had been arrested for the deadly dispersal of protesters during a sit-in in Khartoum earlier this month, Reuters reported Friday.
Two different groups of people suspected of having participated in the coup attempt were arrested, said the spokesman for the Transitional Military Council. One group consisted of five people while the other had more than 12 members, he said.
The council itself took power on April 11 by a coup when military officials overthrew and detained former President Omar al-Bashir after months of protests against his 30-year-old autocratic regime.
An area outside the Ministry of Defense in Khartoum became the focus of new protests as protesters demanded that the army give power to civilians. Discussions between the council and an alliance of opposition groups stalled over who should control the transition to elections then collapsed after the security forces crushed the sit-in of the protest on 3 June.
Opposition-linked doctors said 118 people were killed in the crackdown, while the military council estimated the number at 61.
The council said Thursday that police had been arrested as part of the crackdown. The report has not been released, but the results of an investigation into the issue will be announced on Saturday, said Shams El Din Kabbashi, spokesman for the council.
Previously, Tibor Nagy, US Deputy Secretary of State for Africa, had met with the head of council, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in Khartoum. Veteran diplomat Donald Booth, appointed US ambassador to Sudan on Wednesday, was also present.
Amb Booth and I have urged TMC President General Burhan to take steps to allow the resumption of the successful talks: stop attacks on civilians; Remove the military from Khartoum; To allow an independent inquiry into the horrific June 3 attack on the peaceful sit-in and other recent violence; And stop the crackdown on free speech and the Internet, Nagy said on Twitter.
At a press conference, council spokesman Kabbashi said the US had given him several tips.
“But these are not orders,” he said, while rejecting the idea of an international investigation.
“We do not accept it because we are a sovereign state and we have our judiciary.”
Human rights groups have criticized the current closure of the Internet in Sudan. In an apparent response to criticism, Kabbashi said social media posed a threat to the country.
“We do not allow that for the moment,” he said.
After meeting Nagy on Wednesday, the main opposition alliance said it would only participate in indirect talks and impose other conditions.
The bloodshed in Sudan has raised concerns from world powers, including the United States, which sanctioned Sudan under Bashir for its alleged support of militant groups and the civil war in Darfur.
Trade sanctions were lifted in 2017, but Sudan is still on the list of sponsoring states, preventing it from accessing much-needed funding from international lenders. Washington had previously said it would not remove Sudan from the list as long as the army remained in power.
The stability of the nation’s 40 million people is crucial for an unstable region plagued by conflicts and insurgencies from the Horn of Africa to Egypt and Libya.
The military council was reinforced with the support of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which offered them $ 3 billion in assistance.
Last week, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed went to Khartoum for mediation between the military council and the opposition. Kabbashi said Abiy had proposed that negotiations between the two sides move to Addis Ababa, but the council rejected the proposal.
Sudan’s prosecutor’s office said Thursday morning that Bashir was accused of corruption after an investigation. The charges related to laws relating to “allegedly illicit property and emergency orders,” the office said, without giving further details.
In May, Bashir had already been indicted and implicated in the killing of protesters. Prosecutors had
(Sahar News Monitoring Desk)